Tufted product and method of making same



Aug 19, 1952 u l J. M. scHLos 2,607,042

'TUFTED PRODUCT yAND METHOD oF MAKING SAME:

' Filed Jan. 9, 1951 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Aug. 19, 1952 'roeren PRODUCT AND METHOD i MAKING SAME JacquesM. Schloss, Greensboro, N.

Appleman January 9,iesrseriamazoaia @gf 11 1 claim. (o1. z-zvs) l Thisinvention relates to tufted products having pile yam stitched or woveninto a fabric base, and more particularly to a tufted product in whichdesigns are formed therein by depressing the cut or uncut pile on asewing machine, and to a method of making the same.

The conventional way of forming designs in tufted products made withtufting machines, such as bath mats and scatter rugs, is by an overlayor inlay method. The overlay design is formed by taking the bath mat orscatter rug having either cut or uncut pile tufts stitched in a fabricbase and passing the product through the tufting machine to addadditional pile yarn on top of or as an overlay to the pile yarnoriginally inserted by the tufting machine. The inlay design isaccomplished by leaving bare spaces in the fabric base when the tuftedproduct is formed originally on the tufting machine and subsequentlypassing the product again through the tufting machine to fill in orinlayf these bare spaces with pile yarn.

The disadvantages of the overlay and inlay methods of forming designs intufted products are that the overlay method consumes considerablequantities of additional yarn, and the inlay method involves high laborcosts in the stopping and starting of the tufting machines. Also, thesemethods result in a product having uneven surfaces which in bath matsand scatter rugs is undesirable.

The customary Way of creating designs in Woven tufted products is byusing a jacquard head on the loom. The pattern or design is effected byhaving the pile yarn cut at varying heights. The creation of the designin this way slows down the operation of the loom to a great extent andmaterially increases the unit cost of the resulting tufted product.

In accordance with the present invention various designs may be providedin tufted products by taking a tufted product having a continuous pilesurface formed on the tufting machine or loom and passing the tuftedproduct through a conventional sewing machine having either one or asmany needles as desired. The thread of the sewing machine depresses aportion of either the cut or uncut :pile surface and holds the piletufts in xed relation to the fabric base. The contrast between theupstanding and depressed pile tufts forms a design having a Sculpturedeffect. This result is obtained Without using additional pile yarns andWithout the extensive adjustments inherent in Aforming designs by theinlay method on the tufting machines.

In addition to the foregoing advantages," the present invention affordsAgreaterv flexibility and variety. in providing tuftedgproducts withdesigns. The Ibackground vfor Ythis advantage lies Vin jthe differencebetween the structure and operation of the tufting machine-or loomfandthei'sewing' machine. As isV well lrrlovvrnal tuftingmachine, though itcan stitch in astraigh-t'r'curved line, cannot make an abrupt turn in acontinuous operation, and in order to accomplish an abrupt turn whileproducing tufted products on the tufting machine, it is necessary tostop, adjust the tufted 'product and start a stitching operation anew.As stated above, in order to weave designs in a woven tufted product,jacquard apparatus must be added to the loom with the resultingslow-down in the operating speed of the loom. This lack of operatingflexibility Ais not present in the conventional sewing machine used inthe present invention, and it will be readily recognized that the use ofthe sewing machine in forming the designs in the stitched or Woventufted product of the present invention results in a tufted productquickly produced and having unlimited design possibilities. This is truesince the tufted product may be turned on the sewing machine in anydirection whatsoever without disturbing the continuous operation thereofin forming designs therein.

The tufted product of the present invention and the method by which itis formed are described in further detail below in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a tufted product formed according to thepresent invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the reverse side of the tufted product shownin Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken substantially on line 3-3 inFigure 1; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary transverse view illustrating a modified formof the tufted product.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing, a tufted productdesignated generally by the numeral I0 is formed on a tufting machine(not shown) by inserting or stitching pile yarn I2 in a fabric base I4to form a continuous pile surface.

The reverse side of the tufted product ID, shown in Figure 2, may bemarked with pencil, crayon, stencil or any suitable means, to provide adesign outline, and the tufted product I0 may then be passed through asewing machine (not shown) to stitch a portion of the pile yarn I2 sothat the depressed or stitched portion of the pile yarn l2 is held infixed relation to the fabric base I4 as shown at I6 in Figure 3.

- 3 Naturally, the conventional sewing machine may be provided with 1, 2or more needles. depending upon the form of design desired. The tuftedproduct l was passed through a sewing machine having two needles to formthe shell design shown clearly in Figure 1. This design results from thecontrast between the upstanding and depressed pile yarn I2.

In Figure 4, uncut pile yarn l2' is inserted or stitched in a. fabricbase I4 in the same man- A ner as the cut pile yarn I 2 of the tuftedproduct shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 and the uncut pile I2 is depressedor stitched at I6' so `that it is held in fixed relation to the fabrichase I4' in the same way as the cut pile yarn l2. This view illustratesthe fact that designs may be formed in accordance with the method of theVpresent invention in tufted products having uncut pile yarn.

It will be understood that it is immaterial whether the pile surface isstitched on the tufting machine or Woven on a loom since the inventionof the applicant is directed to either stitched or woven tufted productsin which designs are formed by sewing a portion of the cut or uncutpile, and to a method of making a tufted product having such designsformed therein.

Y Also, it will be appreciated that the material used 4 in forming thetufted product is not important, whether cotton, wool, rayon or thelike.

I claim:

A tufted rug comprising a fabric ibase and a pile yarn surface, asubstantially small portion of said pile yarn being sewed in linesthroughout a major portion of the pile yarn surface, said lines rangingin width from about 1 to 3 needles and 1being held in depressed, fixedrelation to said fabric base so that, while the unsewed pile yarn formsa uniformly even, projecting pile yarn surface over substantially theentire area of the rug. the sewed, depressed pile yarn forms a linealdesign in the pile yarn surface of the rug.

JACQUES M. SCHLOSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 108,581 Robinson Feb. 22, 1938436,366 Levy Sept. 16, 1890 532,801 Mengers Jan. 22, 1895 1,849,550Phoenix Mar. l5, 1932 2,121,162 Riley June 21, 1938

